Fire-escape.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1904 P. L. LARSON.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

No. 777,4t75.

llNiTED STATES Patented December 13, 1904.

PETER L. LARSON, OF DES MOINES, IOVl A.

FlRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,475, dated December 13, 190 1. Application filed June 13, 190 Serial No. 212,342. (No model.)

To (ti/Z whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1', PETER L. LARSON, a citi- Zen of the United States, and a resident of 'Des Moines, county of Polk, and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forminga part thereof.

This invention relates to lire-escapes, and particularly to the swinging ladder used ,in connection with what are commonly known as balcony lire-escapes, such ladder leading from the balcony at a second-story window to the ground and being normally in a horizontal position, being counterweighted to hold it in such position, the weight being so disposed that it is readily tilted to the ground by slight pressure upon its upper step, and when so tilted the shifting of the counterweight will hold it in such position. In ladders of this type it is usual to prolong the outer side of the ladder backwardly from the pivot to secure a counterpoise, the inner side not being so continued, for the reason that the platform or balcony and its supporting-brackets are in the way. As a result of this construction the ladder itself provides for no support of the outer end of its inner side save its crossbars or steps, and in consequence it is diflicult to make the ladder sufliciently rigid to prevent such outer end of the inner side from sagging, resulting in a distortion of the lad der, which renders it unsightly and unsatisfactory for use.

. It has heretofore been proposed to supplement the bars or steps of the ladder in the performance of their function of sustaining the inner side by a bar carrying the load to the outer or supported side of the ladder. This is objectionable in part, because it shifts too much of the weight of the ladder to the extreme outer end of the pivot, and theobject of the present invention is to provide a construction in which the sagging of the outer end of the inner side of the ladder is prevented by supporting its weight in part directly from the pivot and from the inner end thereof -that is to say, placing the load upon the pivot at the inner side of the ladder.

These objects and others hereinafter 1nentioned are secured by the construction here.- inafter described, and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved ladder as attached to a building. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the ladder, partly in section. Figs. 3, 4t, and 5 are detail sections on the line 3 3, 4t 4, and 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 2.

A portion of the side of a building is represented at 10, and brackets, as 11, 12, and 13, are secured to the wall thereof for supporting the stationary platform or balcony (not shown) and the pivot-rod 1 1, the inner end ofwhich is shown as anchored in the wall of the building upon which the tilting ladder is carried.

This ladder comprises the outer side bar or rail 15 and the inner side bar or rail 16, the cross-bars or steps 17 and the hand-rails 18 19 and is supported by means of the pivotrod 14E, which passes through the upper end of the side rails, suitable bearing-plates, as

20, being attached thereto.

A heavy bar 21, shown as in channel form, is attached to the upper end of the outer side rail 15 of the ladder and projects backwardly from the pivot 1 1, and a counterweight 22 is hung upon the hand-rail 18 just back of the pivot, so that when the ladder is tilted clownwardly it will swing across a vertical line pass ing through the pivot, and hence hold the ladder in its tilted position. A suitable stop is provided for limiting the downward movement of the arm 21 as the ladder is swung to the horizontal position, and for this purpose I have provided a chain 23, secured to the outer end of this arm and adapted. to be attached to the building or an appurtenance thereof, such latter attachment not being shown.

The hand-rails 18 and 19 bow upwardly at each end from the side rails of the ladder and are supported intermediate of their ends by uprights or struts, as 24. One or both of these hand-rails may be provided with a turn buckle, as shown at 25, and such rails may with their struts and the side bars of the ladder constitute trusses for-stiffening the device.

The mechanism for preventing the sagging of the outer end of the inner side 16 of the ladder comprises a torsion-rod 26, located centrally of the ladder and below the same, its outer end being secured to a cross-bar 27, the ends of which are fixed to the side bars of the ladder, the attachment of the rod to this crossbar being by means of a U-shaped clip 28, encircling the rod and passing through the bar, its ends being threaded to receive the nuts 29 29, by which it may be drawn up tightly to grip the rod and prevent it from turning. Preferably a block 30 is interposed between the rod 26 and the bar 2'7, serving as a seat for the rod. The upper end of the rod 26 is preferably squared, as more plainly shown in Fig. 5, and issecured by a Ushaped clip 31, encircling the same and extending through a bracket 32, which is located directly below the pivot-rod 14 and is attached thereto at the inner side of the ladder, its end, as 33, being turned up to encircle the rod or being bolted to the side rail 16 of the ladder, or both, as shown in Fig. 5. The opposite end of the bracket 32 is turned up, as shown at 34, so as to bear against the pivot-rod l t. The ends of the clip 31 are threaded to receive the nuts 35, by which the clip may be drawn up tightly to bind the rod 26 against turning.

In placing the ladder in position the nuts 29 are turned back sufficiently to allow the rod 26to turn in the clip 28. The outer end of the inner rail 16 of the ladder is now raised, so as to somewhat distort the latter, and the nuts 29 are then screwed down, so as to securely grip the torsion-rod 26 and hold it against turning in the clip. The inner side rail of the ladder is now allowed to return to its normal position, and in doing so it twists the rod 26. If it is found that the rod is too stifi' to allow the ladder to assume its proper form, the clip 28 may be loosened slightly to allow it to turn therein until the ladder is straightened, when it is then again tightened, and the ladder will be supported against sagging. The weight carried by the torsion-rod 26 is transferred through the bracket 32 to the pivot-rod 1 1 at the inner side of the ladder,

and so far as any of this strain is brought upon this pivot-rod nearer its end it is by the upward pressure near the outer end of the bracket 32.

While I have shown the bar 27 as extending entirely across the ladder, it is not necessary that it should do so, as the essential feature is the attachment of the torsion-rod 26 to the side rail 16. I prefer to locate this torsion-rod along the median line of the ladder, though this is not necessary, as it may be located in any desired position so long as it is securely attached to the side rail 16. By running the bar 27 entirely across the ladder and attaching it to both side rails it maybe made lighter than would otherwise be necessary if it were attached only to the side of the ladder to be supported. The bracket 32 is preferably continued from the rod 26 to the outer or counterweighted side of the ladder, as shown.

I claim as my invention- 1. In afire-escape, in combination, apivotally -supported ladder; a counterweight attached to one side only of the ladder; a torsionerod connected at one end to the outer end of the uncounterweighted side of the ladder and at the other to the pivot-rod carrying the ladder.

2. In a fire-escape, in combination, apivotally-supported ladder; a counterweight applied to one side only of the ladder; a crossbar attached to the two sides of the ladder adjacent its outer end; a bracket carried by the ladder-supporting pivot; and a torsion-rod fixed in the cross-bar and in the bracket.

3. In a fireescape, in combination, apivotally-supported ladder; a counterweight applied to one side only of the ladder; a crossbar attached to the two sides of the ladder adjacent its outer end; a bracket carried by the ladder-supporting pivot; and a torsion-rod adjustably fixed in the cross bar and in the bracket.

PETER L. LARSON.

l/Vitnessesz CHARLES B. GILLsoN, LOUIS K. GILLsoN. 

